Palin Elfling, Part IV Revelation

In the small dark room Palin Elfling lay back on his cot and smiled to himself. Around him he could hear the Circle’s chants and rituals, protecting him, calming him, allowing him to ignore the screaming voice in his mind. Looking down at the deep cuts in his chest he watched calmly as they began to heal themselves. Soon there were just two vivid red scars which eventually faded into two thin white lines before finally disappearing entirely. Palin smiled as he closed his eyes and waited for sleep to come.

Meanwhile, miles away Shard Elfling lay in a bed in a pristine white infirmary room. Gradually the pain slowly began to fade and her body began to heal itself. Staring at the ceiling she thought back over the last few days, it had been so confusing, everything she had come to believe over these last months now seemed so unclear. She had no idea what was going on or how to deal with it. She was physically and emotionally exhausted. Closing her eyes she took a deep breath and tried to force her mind to calmness. She could feel her broken bones mending and the wounds healing, soon she would be whole again, and then she could deal with her thoughts. After a while, just as sleep was coming, a noise from the doorway brought her back to full awareness. Turning her head she saw a figure striding towards her.

“So you’re awake then?” Asked Bris as she came to stand next to the bed.

“Yes, no thanks to you.” Replied Shard angrily.

Sudden pain flashed across Bris’ face and she sighed deeply. “I am so very, very sorry about what we were forced to do to you. I hope that one day you can understand that it was necessary.” She said sadly.

“Necessary? You call this necessary?”

“Again, I am sorry, but yes it was necessary, especially for you. One day I hope I can explain it all to you.”

“Well explain away, I’m not going anywhere.”

Slowly Bris sat on the edge of the bed, her face subdued. “Okay, let me explain. We have no idea what happened to Palin in the forest but whatever it was, the change was immense. We couldn’t save him but we managed to save you and your brother. While you were recovering in the hospital Kalis came to me with an idea. He knows how headstrong you are and knew that there was no way we could stop you going after Palin so he came up with an idea where you would at least be able to look after yourself when you eventually did. And just so you know, I didn’t like the idea but I knew he was right.”

“So it was all a lie?”

“Well, not exactly.”

“Yes it was, I don’t care how you flower it up, you lied to me. Now just get lost and leave me alone.” With that she rolled over and stared hard at the wall, willing Bris to disappear. Sadly Bris stood and walked out of the room, quietly closing the door behind her. For the next two days Shard stayed in the infirmary, her mind seething. Thoughts of all that had happened raced through her mind, the attack in the village, coming to Paragon City, Palin’s attack in the apartment and being rescued by Kalis. Gradually she began to realise that maybe Bris was telling the truth, maybe there was a reason behind what they had done. Little did she know that truth would come as more of a shock than she could ever have imagine.

On the morning of the second day Bris quietly entered her room. Seeing Shard sitting up in bed she walked towards her. “So, are you ready to talk yet?”

Shard stared at her for several seconds before lowering her gaze “Go on then, say what you have to say.”
Bris sat on the end of the bed. “Okay then,” she said “what do you want to know?”

“All of it, why the lies?”

“First let me ask you one question. What happened when you fought Palin?”

“What do you mean, what happened? You can see what happened!”

“Exactly, and you only came out of it alive because of your training didn’t you?”

Shard opened her mouth to reply but suddenly stopped with a surprised look on her face. “You mean...”

“Yes, we knew that we could not stop you going after him so this was then only way we could think of to at least give you a chance of surviving.”

Shard say there, lost in thought for several minutes before again looking at Bris “Okay, what else?”

“Okay then, there is something that we cannot discuss right now, that will have to wait for later but I will tell you the rest. Your brother was badly hurt and we did come very close to losing him, but it was not quite as bad as I told you.”

“You mean he’s going to be okay?” Asked Shard, sudden hope welling inside her.

“Well, not exactly. Or should I say not yet, but yes we do hope that he will eventually regain full use of his legs.”

Finally, for the fist time since she left the village, Shard felt tears come. They were not tears of sadness but tears of joy and happiness. Her brother was okay, he would walk again. Bris sat calmly while Shard cried quietly. Eventually she regained control of herself “So then what?”

“Well,” Bris continued, “you were not injured quite as badly as we said. There is a shard of one of Palin’s claws lodged in your spine like I told you but you were never paralysed.”

“Then why… why did you say that?”

“You know why,” Said Bris patiently. “How long do you think you would have lasted without the training?”

“Yeah, I see, but how did you know I’d find…” Shard paused, unsure of what she had heard that night.

“My father?” asked Bris with a small smile. Shard nodded. “Yes he is my father and to be honest, that was the easy part. Whenever you passed out or slept we would just teleport you closer to him. And of course there was always someone watching you. In the state you were in there was no chance of you noticing anyway.”

Shard turned away deep in thought. Everything she thought she had known was false. She suddenly realised just how much Bris and Kalis had done for her, how wrong she had been. After almost ten minutes she turned back and looked up at Bris.

“Okay then, now what?”

“Well first of all, you need some new clothes and then there are some people you need to meet.” Bris said with a smile as she stood and started walking towards the door.

“What?” Looking down Shard realised that she was still only wearing a skimpy hospital gown. “What happened to my clothes?”

“Well they were covered in blood and ripped to shreds so we dumped them. Funnily enough Kalis was so worried about you that he wouldn’t leave the room.” Bris laughed as Shard suddenly blushed “Don’t worry Aeriel, he’s the perfect gentleman and left before we did anything anyway. There are some clothes in that cupboard over there.” She said, waving to a cupboard in the corner as she reached the door.

“Bris,” Shard called “thank you, but please, it’s Shard, not Aeriel. It’s important.”

Bris paused “Okay Shard, I’ll be outside when you are ready.”

A short while later Kalis, Flax and Trik were sitting round a table in the communal area when Bris walked into the room. “Everyone,” she said “I think there is someone you would like to meet.” She stood aside and gestured to Shard, standing nervously just inside the door. “This is Shard.” They all stood and Trik walked over to her, enfolding her in a hug.

“Welcome,” she smiled “I’m Trik, let me show you around.”

“Thanks, but there’s one think I just need to do first.” Stepping away from Trik she walked over to Kalis and, without any warning, slapped him in the face. “That’s for setting me up!” she said, laughing at the shocked look on his face. She then walked back over to Trik, linked arms with her and they walked out of the room.

The last thing Kalis heard was Trik laugh “I have wanted to do that to him for so long!” before they disappeared. Turning to Bris and Flax, Kalis gave a bemused shrug before storming indignantly out of the door as they collapsed laughing into their chairs. Hours later Trik and Shard staggered back into the room. Shard was still recovering from the shock of finding an entire community of Elflings living in the base. Everywhere she looked there seemed to be new faces, Elflings she had never seen before. At first she had been wary of Trik but the young woman’s open friendly attitude has soon won her around. Relaxing around the communal table Shard looked around, still trying to absorb everything. Finally she smiled to herself, finally accepting how wrong she had been.

For almost a week Shard stayed in the base and was starting to feel at home, she had her own room and anything she wanted was there for the taking. No matter who she talked to everyone was always helpful and friendly. It seemed that everyone knew what had happened to her but no one seemed to pity her or offer false sympathy. They all seemed genuinely concerned for her. After over a year of living a lonely existence where her only thoughts were those of vengeance the change was profound. Early one morning she was awoken by the sound of someone knocking on her door. Sleepily she padded over to the door and opened it to find Trik standing on the other side. “What time is it?” Shard asked fuzzily.

“About five o’clock, we have a lot to do today.”

“Huh? Oh, okay” she sighed “Give me a minute to get dressed.” She said as she closed the door.

Ten minutes later Shard was sat at a large table holding a steaming cup of coffee. Looking around she saw Bris, Trik, Kalis, Flax and Angel looking back at her. “So why the early wake up?”

Bris looked seriously at her for a moment before replying “Do you remember me telling you that there was something that we could not talk about in the infirmary?”

“Yes.” She replied warily, looking around the table.

“Well, it’s time that you knew the rest.” Bris paused before continuing. “Did you ever wonder just how Palin found you so easily when you were living in such an out of the way place?”

“No, not really.”

“It’s the shard. He can sense it and he knows exactly where it is.”

Shard fell back, a shocked look on her face. She never once considered how Palin had always known exactly where she was, now she suddenly realised just what it meant. He could always find her and always would be able to. Would she ever know any peace from him she thought, or would this go on and on until one of them were dead?

“Fortunately Angel has come up with a possible solution.” Continued Bris.

“What, I thought you said it wouldn’t come out.”

“Unfortunately it will not, but that is not what we were thinking of.”

“What then?”

“Well, you now know that Palin can use the shard to find you, yes?”

“Yes, so you said.”

“Well do you think that it may also work the other way round?”

For the second time in as many moments Shard fell back, stunned. Suddenly everything that Bris and Kalis had worked for was perfectly clear. Never in her wildest dreams did she think that this was their plan, but now she knew. They needed her to get to Palin. Looking around the table she could see that Flax and Trik were equally as shocked. It seemed that Bris, Kalis and Angel were the only ones who knew about this. “But… but how? How am I supposed to control this thing?”

“That’s where I come in” said a voice from the door. Turning round Shard saw a tall human female with red hair and a bright green outfit standing in the doorway.

“Who…?”

“My name is Sister Psyche. Bris asked me to come and help you with your small problem.”

“Wha…” Shard looked from Sister Psyche to Bris, now thoroughly confused.

“I can do a lot,” said Bris “but this is something I cannot help you with.”

Almost a week later Shard sat exhausted on her bed. Every day Sister Psyche had pushed her mercilessly, trying to get her to attune her mind to the shard embedded in her back, trying to help her find the psychic link to Pain. At first she felt nothing but eventually she began to feel something, just faint emotions and vague feelings, nothing more. She was not sure whether it was real progress or just her imagination playing tricks on her. Deciding that she was wasting her time second guessing herself she settled down for an early night.

The next day Shard again found herself locked in a room with Sister Psyche. Beads of sweat ran down her brow as she concentrated on the task at hand. She could feel Sister Psyche willing her on, willing her to make that final breakthrough. Suddenly an image flashed in her mind, as clear as if she were there. An ornate door set in the side of a canyon wall surrounded by devastation and fallen buildings. Gasping in shock Shard fell back in her chair. “I know where he is!” she gasped.

“What?” cried Sister Psyche, a look of relief on her face “You’ve found him? Stop,” she said as Shard went to answer. “Wait here, hold onto that thought.” and she ran from the room.

A short while later Bris entered the room and moved to stand in front of her “Is it true, you know where he is?”

“Yes,” she replied in wonder “I know.”

A look of intense relief crossed Bris’ face as she said “Okay, come with me, we need to tell the others.”

A short time later Shard sat nervously in the meeting room. Bris, Flax, Trik, Kalis and Angel were all staring back at her with tense, strained expressions.

“Okay then,” asked Bris “where?”

Slowly Shard took a deep breath, trying to calm herself. “The Hollows, He’s in the Hollows.”

“The hollows is a big place Shard.” Bris sighed “Have you any more information?”

“No, I’m sorry, just an image of a door, that’s all.” Replied Shard dejectedly.

“A door?” interrupted Flax, an intent look on his face “Describe it to me.”

“Well,” she paused, gather in her thoughts “I can see a long, narrow canyon, it’s early morning but the door is well lit by the sun, the other side of the canyon is all dark. I can see the door, it’s actually two doors, the surround is very ornate and there’s a symbol carved in the stone over it, an eye with lines coming from it.”

“What?” she asked as Kalis groaned.

“I hate that place” he moaned, looking at Flax.

“What, where, you know where it is?” asked Shard, shocked.

“Yes, we know where it is” replied Flax grimly, “It’s a temple, and we’ve been there a few times. I should have known he would be there of all places!” he continued angrily.

“Now Flax, stop beating yourself up. There was no way we could have known for sure.” Said Bris gently “But now we do, and now you must go and get him.”

“Yes.” Cried Trik jumping to her feet.

“Well then,” continued Bris looking at Kalis “Who is going.”

“Well, I think me, Flax, Trik of course, or we‘ll never hear the end of it…” he ignored Trik as she stuck her tongue out at him.

“Me?” asked Shard.

“No Shard,” replied Bris

”What? Why, if anyone should go it’s me. I can find him!”

“And he can find you. He knows where you are, remember?” Bris replied with a stern look.

“Oh, sorry, I forgot.” Shard replied, subdued.

“Okay, Carry on Kalis.”

“Okay then, I think we need Angel and Baros too. Oh and I’m taking Ligo.”

“Ligo? What’s a Ligo?” asked Shard, confused.

“Me,” said a voice from the doorway “And I’m not an it!”

Shard looked around nervously as the largest Elfling she had ever seen walked into the room. He was huge! She could see the muscles rippling across his tattooed chest as he entered the room. “So,” he asked “where we going?”

“The Hollows, back to that damn temple.” replied Kalis.

“Good, I like that place” replied Ligo with an evil grin.

“We just have to stop off and get Baros on the way”

“Baros? Great!” Ligo laughed with a grin “We’re going to have so much fun.”

With that Flax, Kalis, Trik, Angel and Ligo turned and walked out of the room. The last thing they heard was Bris’ usual shout of “And be careful!”

TO BE CONTINUED…

You can read the previous parts here.

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[center][IMG]http://img163.imageshack.us/img163/2585/resistancesig3.png[/IMG]
Kalis Elfling - Inv/Axe Tanker. [i]Kevin is watching... Always[/i]
Proud member of [url="http://www.honourableunited.org.uk/"]Honourable United[/url]
@Tellis - I reserve the right to be ridiculous![/center]

and you can read the next part here.

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[center][IMG]http://img163.imageshack.us/img163/2585/resistancesig3.png[/IMG]
Kalis Elfling - Inv/Axe Tanker. [i]Kevin is watching... Always[/i]
Proud member of [url="http://www.honourableunited.org.uk/"]Honourable United[/url]
@Tellis - I reserve the right to be ridiculous![/center]